UNH Athletics Receives High Marks for GSR

Dec 15, 2010

INDIANAPOLIS
– The University of New Hampshire, with a Graduation Success
Rate (GSR) score of 95, is ranked at the top of the list among its
conference competitors as well as near the top of the national
rankings, according to the data released by the NCAA in late
November.

UNH was the highest-ranked school
in both the America East and Colonial Athletic Association
conferences, and was second in Hockey East. The Wildcats were No. 1
in the nation among land-grant institutions as well as No. 2
nationally among public schools (second only to the U.S. Naval
Academy).

Seven UNH teams recorded a GSR of
100%. They were: field hockey, gymnastics, men’s soccer,
women’s ice hockey, women’s skiing, women’s track
and women’s volleyball. The football team finished with a GSR
of 95, tied for fifth-best in the nation in its respective sport.
Other notable performances included: women’s lacrosse (93);
men’s track, women’s swimming and women’s soccer
with 92; women’s basketball (90); and men’s basketball
(89).

“Academic success is as
important an indicator of success at UNH as are our wins and
losses,” UNH Director of Athletics Marty
Scarano said. “We are justifiably proud of the
metrics which exhibit academic achievement, but don’t take
them for granted or assume that they are a given. A lot of people
at UNH have contributed to this accomplishment; it’s a
reflection of a university trying to do the right things across
campus and having inter-collegiate athletics in
perspective.”

The GSR data indicates the number
of student-athletes earning a degree within six years. The NCAA
developed the GSR to more accurately assess the academic success of
student-athletes. The GSR, unlike the federal graduation rate,
holds the institution accountable for transfer students. The
GSR also accounts for midyear enrollees and is calculated for every
sport.

The Graduation Success Rate was
developed by the NCAA as part of its academic reform initiative to
more accurately measure the academic success of Division I
student-athletes by better accounting for the many different
academic paths followed by today’s college students.

Under the GSR calculation,
institutions are not penalized for outgoing transfer students who
leave in good academic standing. These outgoing transfers are
essentially passed to the receiving institution’s GSR cohort.
The NCAA also calculates the federal graduation rate for
student-athletes, because it is the only rate to compare
student-athletes to the general student body.

The most recent Graduation Success
Rates are based on the four entering freshmen classes in Division I
from 2000-2001 through 2003-04. There are almost 105,000
student-athletes included in the most recent four classes using the
GSR methodology, as compared to just slightly fewer than 77,000 in
the federal rate. This year marks the ninth year of GSR data that
have been collected. The NCAA began collecting GSR data with the
entering freshman class of 1995. The latest entering class for
which data are available is 2003.